What Do You Know About the Founders?

Everyone knows the Founding Fathers worked closely together, first winning independence, then creating the Constitution, and finally getting the government up and running before partisan politics reared its ugly head.

So, to win the grand prize, answer two questions:

1. How many documents are known to have the signatures of Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, and Madison?
2. Name one document?

See this link for the answers.

The Blessing of the Phones

Michael Nielson includes a link on a British canon who blessed the cell phones:

On this day, the first Monday after Twelfth Night, farm labourers would bring a plough to the door of the church to be blessed… Men and women coming to [the modern] church no longer used ploughs; their tools were their laptops, their iPhones and their BlackBerries. So he wrote a blessing and [delivered] it before a congregation of 80, the white heat of technology shining from his every pronouncement. “I invite you to have your mobile phone out … though I would like you to put it on silent,” he said.

"No One Goes to the Barricades for Efficiency"

That's Robin Hanson yesterday.  (I like the post because he mentions my favorite movie, Kelly's Heroes.)  Sadly it appears that Obama is ready to apply the Vt. Senator's prescription for Vietnam to health care (was it Aiken, I think it was Aiken): "declare victory and leave".  At least that's the sad message I take away from this NY Times piece by David Leonhardt which describes all the problems bureaucrats will have implementing health care reform and notes Obama has yet to nominate anyone to run the process.  A big, black mark against his administration.
 

Vertical Farming

Picked up a comment from Charlie on my vertical farming post.  As I responded in comments, I still am skeptical, but I welcome descriptions of experience with such things (even trying to grow lettuce on windowsills, which I've never done but could be relevant in this context.

Two Sides of an Issue--Growing Your School Lunch

Mr. Freese at Grist takes on an article by Ms Flanagan in the Atlantic which is critical of the Berkeley and now California effort, inspired by Alice Waters, to have school kids grow gardens. She sees it as a fad which distracts from basic education.

The tone of the article is demonstrated here:

This notion—that it is agreeably possible to do good (school gardens!) and live well (guinea hens!)—bears the hallmark of contemporary progressivism, a kind of win-win, “let them eat tarte tatin” approach to the world and one’s place in it that is prompting an improbable alliance of school reformers, volunteers, movie stars, politicians’ wives, and agricultural concerns (the California Fertilizer Foundation is a big friend of school gardens) to insert its values into the schools.

As you might expect, Mr. Freese is not happy with the article. He makes some points.  I'm not sure that 1.5 hours a week is all that significant.  And the logic for blaming gardening for poor test scores at the original school isn't particularly good. But on the whole I'm more on Flanagan's side than Freese's.  There's also a post at Yale Sustainable Foods attacking Flanagan, with links to a couple other sites with attacks, and lots of comments.

Bottomline: while I concede gardening could serve as a way to teach lots of stuff, I very much doubt it's done that way in very many cases.  What you're asking for is a teacher who not only knows the academic material, but is also a good and committed gardener. We don't have a surplus of the former, and there's sure to be a shortage of the combination. So, any teacher who wants to do gardening as a teaching method, fine, more power to her/him, but not as a requirement in the curriculum.

Health Care Factoids from T.R. Reid

I'm reading Reid's book on health care systems in different countries.  From his chapter on France, a few factoids which struck me:

• a French doctor did the first joint replacement back in 1892 (a shoulder joint)
• French doctors are unionized, low paid, but have no student loans and minimal charges for malpractice insurance
• the French use a smart card to carry the person's health records.  (Dallas Smith--who once worked for ASCS/FSA in tobacco and peanuts and pioneered the smart card for peanuts--is probably somewhere saying "I told you so"). 
  

Fraud Follows Program--Biomass Problems

The Biomass program, fresh from a Wash Post article, now has a notice out warning about scams and abuse.

This is all part of the bureaucratic learning curve. Of course, it's a little embarassing when the FSA state director is featured in a story that starts: "Forget gold—the biomass rush is on in California."

And never underestimate the evil that lurks in the hearts of men--here's a Snopes post on a scam on aid to Haiti.

A Good Bureaucrat: Ink

See this writeup on Dwight Ink.

John Phipps Will Like Stenholm's Views

Former Representative Charlie Stenholm told the Farm Bureau convention expenditures on farm programs will be challenged, according to Farm Policy.

IMO that's not exactly earthshaking news.  One could write "expenditures on [any and every discretionary program and most entitlements] will be challenged in the coming years" and be safe in your prediction.

Farm state Senators who wish to protect their farm programs will fight any idea for a special committee to come up with answers to the budget deficit problem because farm programs would inevitably take a hit.

Want to Stay Married--Rise High in the Military

Obamafoodorama has a post on Obama's dinner for the military big shots tonight. The guest list is only about 21 or 22 couples, but only one general is unaccompanied, one couple has different last names, and the rest are married.  Not sure whether it's very hard to get promoted if you aren't married, or whether the military life is good for marriages.